Photo taken on January 17, 2016 shows the stone monument in front of the headquarters building of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in downtown Beijing, capital of China. [Photo: Xinhua]

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved a 165 million US dollar loan for a project in Bangladesh.

It's part of the first batch of loans issued from the China-led development bank.

The AIIB's Board of Directors has approved 4 loans totaling just over 500-million US dollars to finance 4 separate projects.

AIIB President Jin Liqun says the projects, which cover the fields of energy, urban development and transport, are going to help strengthen regional connectivity.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which became operational earlier this year, has a target of lending around 1.2-billion US dollars this year.

It's currently reviewing dozens of different projects put forward by various countries throughout Asia.